SENATE OKS CRACKDOWN ON ALIENS

The Senate voted Friday to force states to crack down on welfare payments to illegal aliens with help from an Immigration and Naturalization Service computer system.

Sen. Paula Hawkins, R-Fla., who sponsored the amendment, said the program, which is being used on a trial basis in California, Illinois and Colorado, could save the country $10.7 billion annually in payments -- Medicaid, unemployment compensation, food stamps, Aid to Families with Dependent Children -- that would go to illegal aliens.

Immigration and Naturalization Service officials took exception to her figures, saying their estimate was $95 million a year.

By refusing to table the amendment on a 58-31 vote, the Senate agreed to require the INS to make its System Alien Verification Entitlement (SAVE) program available to states so they can check the status of aliens applying for welfare.

INS officials said it would cost the federal government about $30,000 per state to set up the computer system, with the federal government paying 90 percent of the cost in each state.

Sen. Alan Simpson, R-Wyo., sponsor of the immigration reform bill, acknowledged that SAVE was in fact saving money, but he opposed requiring states to use it, saying he wasn't sure all states needed it and questioning whether mistakes could be prevented while protecting personal privacy.

Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., expressed concerns about discrimination, claiming that some welfare applicants would not be checked in the computer.

Moving slowly toward final passage of the new immigration law, the Senate also voted to review the employer sanctions provisions if they result in widespread discrimination. The Senate, however, decided not to liberalize its amnesty program, under which illegal aliens who have been in the United States for an extended time could be given legal status three years after enactment of the law.

Kennedy sponsored both amendments.

The Senate is expected to finish other amendments to the bill Monday with a vote on the entire bill to come Tuesday.

Simpson's bill would establish a nine-member commission to study whether penalties against employers who knowingly hire illegal aliens and increased border enforcement had curtailed the flow of illegal aliens. If so, an amnesty program could take effect sooner than three years after enactment of the law.

The bill also would require a one-year waiting period before aliens could apply for resident status, but Kennedy wanted legalization to coincide with the imposition of employer sanctions.

"We should make an adjustment for individuals who have demonstrated a commitment to their country, their community and their family and allow them to go track for citizenship," Kennedy said.